Wayne Finger requested information about a single-comb Polyphon which
appears to have no provision for dampers [001105 MMDigest].

This is probably one of the early movements predating the use of a
damper gantry.  In this model the comb teeth are square-cut at the
tips, leaving no room for damper fingers between the teeth.  Instead,
a damper system was rigged to operate on top of the comb, hence the
extra screw holes.

The damper device was a sort of rack containing spring-copper fingers
which were poised above (and parallel to)each comb tooth.  I believe
it was created from a sheet of spring copper that was slotted to create
the individual fingers.  The underside of each finger had a tiny bit of
punched-out green felt.

The front edge of each finger was positioned so that the star wheel
point contacted the finger first and pressed it down upon the tooth.
The copper damper was released a fraction of a second before the comb
tooth was plucked.  It worked fine, except that the copper fingers wore
down rapidly and ceased functioning.

To avoid damage to the dampers, an ornamental metal shield (engraved
with the Polyphon logo) was positioned over the comb and dampers, so
that the damper device was not exposed.  It was right-angled and
attached by screws to the comb support.

If anyone has figured out a replacement system for this device, perhaps
utilizing modern materials (Teflon?) I would dearly love to hear about
it.

Houston Maples